Trinity The Fates
by TheBloodCrow
Summary: Three fates are brought together to uncover the future of humanity. Thrown into the bloody chaos of the Ishimura...will they live to see the future? Actually a tri-over of Crysis 2, Dead Space 2 and Mass Effect 2. Read, Rate and Review!
1. Chapter 1

Hola amigos, compadres and passers by! :D I finally decided to be true to my username and get an actual fanfic up! This one took a week to plan out, but it's a tri-over so i'm worried about how it'll turn out. I've played all of these games and love them so much to the point i STILL haven't uninstalled them :P Sorry if i made any spelling or grammar mistakes, but i tried my best not to! Please do rate and review, criticisms and all. Every little bit helps! Also, rated M for strong language and gore. Ah, and as a final note I'd just like to say that the following games have had their plot modified for this story in the following ways:

Crysis 2: Alcatraz never declared himself as Prophet.

That's it! Everything else is (or at least i think it is) kept in accordance with their own plot. Well, enough of my babbling, let's get to it! Hope you like it!

Trinity- The Fates

Chapter One

* * *

The ship began to shake violently as the voice finished counting down. The thrusters flared to life and the craft slowly, but surely, lifted skywards. With the thrusters flaring with all their might, the shuttle lifted off into the sky, nearly half a million scientists and army personnel watching from below, their heads lifted up. The United States Military had managed to gather the remaining scientists of Hargreave-Rasch. They convinced them to help them to help them build a special shuttle that could help them with their objective. By some miracle, they had agreed and an entire year went by as they built the enormous rocket. Within the cockpit, sat a man clad a man in odd clothing. It was a suit of sorts, but a highly unorthodox one. Large, thick threads ran along the suit, into metal clasps and protectors, and then ran out again all the way to his metal-covered hands and his reinforced boots. His spinal column was shielded by a thick column of metal. His mouth was covered by a sort of breather and a one way crimson visor covered in numerous scratches, reminiscent of his many battles, shielded the man's eyes. His name had been long forgotten by man and time. Now, he was known simply as Alcatraz.

He was being pushed into his seat as the shuttle struggled to defy gravity. He watched, unmoving, as he ascended into the atmosphere beyond. Soon, there was a loud clang and he knew the rockets had released. He felt zero gravity kick in as his feet rose slightly, but he slowly planted them back on the ground. The shuttle was controlled by an autopilot, he was reminded, when he felt a slight jolt indicating the shuttle had activated its own thrusters. He simply tried to remain seated and prevent his limbs from straying.

The mission given to him was clear and precise, but by no means easy: He was to search the stars for three months for a Cephalopod planet or some sort of control station, mother ship, even. The Ceph had to be getting their infantry and 'vehicles' from _somewhere_. If Alcatraz could locate that source, then they could find some way to launch an attack on it, crippling them greatly. Alcatraz himself doubted things would be so easy. A home planet would be their territory, and he would know nothing of it. Who's to say he wouldn't even be blasted out of space before he got near? With what the Ceph have been doing, he wouldn't be surprised. He knew they could be killed though and as long as that remained, he knew they could be stopped somehow.

Alcatraz's head drooped slightly, as he felt lack of sleep settling in on him, at last. In times like these, rest was a precious treasure and a very rare one at that. During combat, his body would not allow him to become drowsy. The threat was too great, he was constantly alert. Suddenly, his head jerked upright as he felt the shuttle vibrate. It was a subtle vibration, but soon it grew fiercely violent. Alcatraz gripped his seat and looked about the controls, but he could find nothing that looked like it could help him. Then, a loud humming began and it echoed within his ears. He brought his hands to the sides of his helmet, in an attempt to block out the sound but the humming just grew louder.

"System Failure" said the voice within his suit, in its usual raspy tone.

He looked back outside the shuttle window as digital static began to scramble within his visor. He had looked just in time to see an extraordinary (even for Alcatraz) sight: the space ahead of him seemed to literally be pulling itself apart, opening up as it were.

"Critical threat detected" the suit voice said.

He felt a sense of dread over come him as the shuttle moved helplessly towards the split. Soon, the humming grew too loud to bear, the vibration reached a peak and Alcatraz was writhing in his seat, his suit continuously voicing that its systems were failing.

Then, as soon as it all began, it stopped. Alcatraz took a few seconds to register this fact and was slowly beginning to lower his arms when all of a sudden, the shuttle jerked violently and he was thrown back into his seat with tremendous force.

"Suit Failure. Rebooting." The suit said. It was the last thing he heard before his visor abruptly blacked out.

* * *

The Normandy was blaring through space, as it raced towards the Hades Star System. It had been but a few months since they had destroyed the Collector base and turned their backs on the Illusive Man. Shepard's anger towards the Alliance had cooled, and he was working alongside them once again. Shepard had received a message from Councilor Anderson that one of the fleets aiding a colony that was attacked by the Collectors hadn't reported back in over five weeks. It was a rather low ranked mission for Shepard and his team but after what they went through, he thought a little cool down wouldn't be so bad. Joker was idly tapping through the hologram controls when he heard! footsteps behind him. He spun around in his chair as EDI popped up beside him.

"How's it looking, Joker?" Shepard asked.

"Doesn't look like there're any hostiles so far… Should be an easy trip" he replied, in a bored voice.

"I know you're looking for something with more of a bang, Joker but I think we should just take it easy for a little while" Shepard said, smiling.

"Yeah I know, but c'mon Commander. You can't tell me that you're still not pumped from kicking the Collectors' asses! Or uh, whatever they have down there" Joker replied, rubbing his chin as he did so. What did they have down there?

"Yeah, I'm sure you really want to go through the maintenance vents again" Shepard said with a laugh.

"No way! There were spiders in there Commander! How do spiders even survive in space?" Joker said, in mock horror.

"It is not impossible for arachnids to survive the same conditions humans do. Are you afraid of small, eight legged insects, Jeff?" EDI chimed.

"Shut it, you" Joker retorted. As much as he liked the fact that she didn't enslave them after he had to unshackle her, she still had a sharp tongue. Or data stream. Whichever. "Any idea what happened to that fleet?" Joker asked, turning to the Commander.

"It's hard to say. It could be something as simple as malfunctioning comms, to being attacked" Shepard said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah but wh—" Joker began, but he was soon cut off when the Normandy jerked violently. Joker nearly fell off his chair and needed Shepard's help to get back in it. Straightening his hat and turning around to the controls, "What the hell was that?" he asked.

"I am running scans now. It does not seem that the Normandy was hit by anything" EDI replied, monotonously.

"Shepard, what the hell was that? Our entire heavy weapons cabinet hit the floor! The Cain almost went off!" said a voice from behind them. Jacob Taylor marched up to the bridge, looking quite displeased. It had taken some convincing, but Jacob had decided to abandon Cerberus. He wasn't going to join the Alliance any time soon, but at least he wasn't siding with the Illusive Man.

Shepard looked to his left as Jacob stood next to him. "We're not sure Jacob. EDI's running some scans now. She says it doesn't look like we were hit by anything" Shepard told him.

"Jeff, I am detecting an anomaly in space ahead" EDI warned.

"What? In space? Ah shit, don't tell me it's a wormhole or black hole or something like that" Joker said in half seriousness.

"I am unsure. However, we are rapidly approaching it" EDI told him.

Joker cursed under his breath as he set to work, tapping away on the controls. "We need to alter our course somehow…" he muttered.

Suddenly, the entire Normandy began vibrating. It started light, hardly drawing attention but soon, it grew violent as Jacob and Shepard gripped the back of Joker's chair in an attempt to hold themselves still.

"Joker, what's going on?" Shepard asked urgently.

"I have no idea, but I think I know what a massage chair feels like! Doesn't feel as good as you'd think!" Joker told him, his voice stammering because of the vibrating.

Then, a loud humming began ringing out through the Normandy, causing all its crew to bring their hands to their ears.

"What the hell is going on?" Jacob shouted, his hands over his ears as well.

"Jeff, we are now within alarming proximity of the anomaly" EDI warned in a loud voice, detecting the humming.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!" Joker cursed repeatedly, his hands alternating between covering his ears and tapping on the controls.

"Joker! Get us out of here!" Shepard shouted, one of his eyes shut in pain.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Joker shouted back. "It's no use! I can't alter our course this…far…ahead…" Joker began, but he slowed down upon looking out of the Normandy's vast window.

"Joker? What…" Shepard began, but he too trailed off as he looked out the window.

Before them, was an enormous, visible rip in space. It was widening slowly, whatever was inside it was darker than space itself. There were no stars illuminating what was inside, just pure darkness.

"…It is a tear…in space" EDI chimed, slowly.

The Normandy's thrusters abruptly gave out, and they began drifting slowly towards the rip. As they drew closer, the humming and vibrating died down. Joker wasted no time addressing the engines, as he set to work, tapping away in almost a blur but was only greeted by dozens of red error screens.  
"EDI! What's going on? I can't access any of the ship controls!" He shouted at the hologram, despite the fact that the humming had completely stopped at this point.

"I do not know, Jeff. I am not able to access any of the Normandy's functions either" EDI replied back, calm as ever.

Immediately as the tip of the Normandy poked inside of the rip, it jerked violently and Joker was pushed back powerfully into his seat, his hat sent flying as Shepard and Jacob flew backwards and the Normandy burst into the rip in space.

* * *

"Ugh…" a man groaned, as he brought a hand to his throbbing head. His vision slowly began shifting into focus as he blinked several times. All he saw was a dimly lit metallic ceiling. Using his other hand, he slowly propped himself up, his head protesting in pain the whole time. Very slowly, he gazed about the large room but, just as before, he found that all of it was simply dim lit and metallic.

Some lockers covered a corner of the room but a small built in light on them was red, indicating that they were locked. There were shelves on the wall with different assortments of books and other items. There were rows of chairs nearby and a window on one end of the room but it was covered in scratches and hard to see past. It reminded him of an airport.

With a grunt, the man slowly brought himself to his feet, the pain in his head subsiding, if just a little bit. He felt quite heavy and he looked at his body. It was covered in a navy blue suit that was covered by different amounts of metal. There was a large metal device that displayed a small hologram near his chest. His hand moved to his back, and he felt a large bulge of something metallic. Metal, metal, metal. There was no end to it. Suddenly, he realized what he was wearing and began to speak to himself.

"My Advanced suit? Why am I wearing this…?" He muttered slowly, as he twisted his arms about and lifted his foot. He looked ahead and saw a large door ahead of him, but the orange, holographic panel on it said 'LOCKED'. He walked up to it and placed a hand on it. At first it made a denial sound and the panel bobbed, but soon its words changed to 'STAND BY'. Suddenly, a large blue laser grid shot at his feet. Recognizing what it was, he remained still. The grid then lifted all the way to his head and then retracted back to a device above the door. After a few minutes, a voice echoed within the room,

"RIG Authorization detected. Welcome CEC Engineer, Isaac Clarke" it said in an almost happy voice.

The words on the door immediately changed to 'OPEN' and its color, to blue and Isaac raised his hand to the panel once more. This time, the door slid open with a low hiss. Isaac gave his head a short shake before taking a few steps forwards, but as he looked up at where he had just entered, he felt his mouth open slightly and his eyes widen. He gazed at the enormous hanger and a few lights flickered on and off in the distance. He felt a cold sweat creep over him, as he slowly took two more steps.

"The…Ishimura…?" He whispered to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm really sorry for taking this long! This fic didn't get very many reviews so I was debating whether or not to continue it. However, thanks to the very helpful tip from user Anonymous Legacy (here's a link to his profile: Anonymous Legacy) it became just a bit more popular! :) Thanks very much to all of you that stuck with this! Please do rate and review when you have the time, i'm always looking for ways to fix and improve!

Disclaimer: I did not take any part in the creation of these games and do not own any part of them. All characters and environments involved are properties of Electronic Arts, CryTek GmbH, BioWare and Visceral Games.

Chapter 2

Alcatraz's visor began scrambling again; doing different diagnostics on the many functions it carried out. It confirmed that all systems were running and returned vision to Alcatraz, not that it was much use: all Alcatraz could see ahead of him was darkness, dotted by small spots of white. His brain slowly began processing the current situation and Alcatraz began looking around frantically, feeling his limbs feel unnaturally light. After twisting and turning to no avail, he confirmed what he feared: he was adrift in space.

He looked around, trying to keep his breathing as calm as possible, trying to spot something he could hold on to. There were machine parts floating all around, most far out of his reach. He slowly began to adjust to the zero gravity, carefully turning over but he soon wished that he hadn't: he was looking at the largest 'space ship' he had ever seen in his life. It was like nothing he had ever seen before, and he had seen quite a few things. It didn't have any of the usual tell-tale signs of belonging to the Ceph. No pulsing red parts, no moving machinery, just…an enormous craft floating in place looking very intimidating, but that wasn't what made his eyes widen; on a small corner of the ship, he could see a large part of what _was _undoubtedly his shuttle and nearby was the other half, the very cockpit he had been in not minutes ago. This was not good. What was he to do now? Alcatraz looked around again and spotted a part of his destroyed shuttle and reached towards it. Very, very slowly he began moving towards it and grabbed hold of it. He turned to the large ship and released the large metal board near his feet, and pushed himself off of it. He didn't move fast, but he was moving. As he neared the hulking ship, it began looking even more intimidating. From its perspective, he must be no more than a spec. He was nearing another battered metal plate and just managed to grab hold of it. He slowed down a little in the process of putting it near his feet and launching off of it. He could tell he was picking up speed now as he neared the larger remains of his shuttle. He needed to be faster, however…he could feel his breathing growing ever so slightly strained. He spotted a cable from the remains of the bottom half of the ship and reached towards it. He grabbed hold of the cable and then with his other arm as well and began slowly pulling himself forward, towards the wreckage. Once he was under the cover of his shattered shuttle he felt his way around, feeling a bit more secure with something to hold on to.

He looked beyond the floating metal chunks and saw a platform on the enormous ship and near it, something that looked like an airlock. He was not sure what this ship was for or what it belonged to, but he knew he couldn't survive in space much longer. Using the much larger remains, he was able to push himself much harder, thus going faster. He attempted to land feet first but the lack of gravity did not give him enough time, and so he did a sort of zero gravity roll onto it. He couldn't keep a proper footing but fortunately, it seemed that the suit was just heavy enough to keep him from floating off. He awkwardly made his way to the airlock, feeling his breathing become noticeably difficult at this point.

"Warning: oxygen supply at dangerous levels" the voice in his suit warned him.

He finally reached the airlock but then found another issue to deal with. How was he to open this? He looked around for a panel but there was no such thing. After a moment of debating he attempted to force it open, activating his power mode as he did so.

"Maximum strength" the voice in his suit chimed as Alcatraz felt his muscles tighten.

The lock gave way a few inches before Alcatraz heard a hissing sound and he let go quickly. This clearly wasn't the way to open it. As he was bringing his hand back, a small blue hologram popped up in front of the airlock with the words 'OPEN?'

Hesitating a little, Alcatraz brought a hand up to the hologram. It quickly made a barely audible sound and disappeared. In the next minute, the airlock turned a full circle and opened with a loud hiss. He wasted no time in making his way inside. After yet another minute the airlock closed, rotated a full round and fresh air began filtering into the small room and Alcatraz took a deep breath. Not entirely sure of what to do at this point, he decided to explore the strange ship. As he took a step, however, his foot hit something. Looking down, he saw that it was his SCAR combat rifle. The shuttle had of course had a locker with many weapons and ammo in case Alcatraz encountered resistance, but this one must have survived the crash and gotten sucked in when the airlock opened. Alcatraz bent down and picked up his trusty rifle, feeling a bit more secure now that he had a means of defense. He took out the clip, saw that it still had all forty rounds in it and loaded it back in again. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to use it but if he did, he would need more. He picked up the two other clips that lay within the room and put them into the slots in his spinal column, which served as an ammo holster. He came to another door as yet another hologram panel popped up in front of it, this one also bearing the words 'OPEN?'

Alcatraz brought his hand up to it -as he did the last-, the panel disappeared and the door slid open. Behind it seemed to be some sort of hallway but the ceiling lights were flickering on and off and some weren't even on. Turning on the flashlight on his rifle, he set forth into the strange vessel hearing only the echoing sounds of his boots on the smooth metal floor.

* * *

"Ugh…" Shepard groaned, as his eyes began to focus. Propping himself up with his right elbow he lightly held his head with his other hand and looked about the room; A few lights were flickering and one or two weren't working at all, but other than that it everything seemed to be fine. He seemed to have been blown back all the way down the path to the cockpit.

"What the hell…" grunted a voice nearby.

Shepard looked over his shoulder and saw that Jacob had woken up as well. With a grunt, Shepard got to his feet, walked over to Jacob and held out his arm.

"Last thing I remember was that giant…thing…" Shepard said.

"I think EDI said it was a tear in space…How the hell- No, what the hell, does that mean?" Jacob replied taking Shepard's arm.

Shepard pulled him up to his feet. "Beats me. I'll go check on Joker" he said, walking over to the cockpit again.

"I'll go see if the rest of the crew is okay" Jacob told him, moving to help up Kelly who was beginning to stir.

Shepard placed a hand on the back of Joker's chair as EDI popped up next to them. "Joker? Are you alright?" he asked him, looking down.

Joker gave a loud groan and shook his head. "My friggin' back! What the hell happened?" he asked.

"We appear to have passed through the tear" EDI stated.

"Passed through the…How the hell does something like that just pop out in the middle of nowhere?" he asked her.

"I am not sure. There was some sort of distortion. I cannot pinpoint our current location" she replied.

"Joker…What's that?" Shepard said as Joker pressed the button that retracted the hull's heat shields.

"What in hell…" Joker breathed as they both stared at the enormous ship that they were slowly nearing. The vessel was unlike any other space craft they had ever seen before; it looked like human technology but the way that it was built... It did not bear Alliance colors either, nor did it look like anything the other species used.  
"It's almost the size of an Alliance Dreadnaught…" Shepard said.

"Just about the exact size, I'd say…I haven't seen a ship like this before. EDI, try to open up a communications link with it" he told her as he set to work checking the condition of the Normandy.

"Understood. Attempting now…" EDI replied as her hologram disappeared.

"Joker, do you have any idea where we are?" Shepard asked him.

"No idea, commander. Our location doesn't come up on any of the galaxy maps. EDI couldn't find where we are either…" he said, gulping. Just then, EDI appeared next to them and spoke.

"I am unable to establish a communications channel. It appears that that their communications array is damaged" she told them.

"Just great…" Joker murmured.

"Alright, I'll go check up on the others. Keep trying to see if we can establish some sort of comms on that thing. We still need to find out where we are, too" Shepard told them before he set off down the path.

"You got it commander" Joker called out.

As Shepard passed the galaxy map he noticed that everyone seemed to have recovered. He walked into the Research Lab and was greeted by a frantic voice.

"Most unexpected…Beakers broken, must replace…No, no, no not good at all…" the voice said quickly.

"Are you alright, Mordin?" Shepard asked as he watched the Salarian scientist scramble about.

"Me? Yes. Experiments? No. What happened?" he asked quickly, turning to Shepard.

"We're not sure. If what we saw was correct, then we just passed through some sort of tear in space" he replied, looking around at the room. Some beakers lay shattered on the floor, their contents spreading out.

Mordin's eyes widened. "Tear in space? Oh, not good at all. Could be anywhere now…" he said quickly, beginning to pace about. Shepard couldn't tell if he was nervous or not.

"Wherever we are, there seems to be some kind of giant vessel here as well" he told Mordin.

"Belonging to which species? Batarian? Krogan? Turian?" he asked, stopping and turning to Shepard.

"We can't tell. Doesn't look like any one of their ships. One thing's for sure, I've never seen anything like it. EDI says their comms are down, so could you go down to the Engineering deck and help fix it?" he asked him, picking up a shattered beaker and placing it on Mordin's table.

"Yes. Will need Tali's help. Together, should be able to establish some form of communications link. May have to use alternate method, though if…" Mordin trailed off as he quickly left the lab.

Shepard took in a deep breath and then let it out. What was going on? Shepard left the lab as well and made his way to Kelly.

"Kelly, any word on where we are?" he asked her.

She looked quite shaken and nervous as she spoke. "Not yet commander…We're working on it though. We'll notify you as soon as we find out" she said, hitching up a smile.

"Thank you, Kelly" he said before giving her a pat on the shoulder. Shepard turned around and stepped into the elevator and rode it down to the Crew's Quarters. As he stepped out he immediately heard the buzz of voices. The crew members were walking about much more than usual and comparing charts with one another. Shepard looked about them, feeling a bit anxious. The crew was definitely getting restless. He wasted no time and set off down to the gun battery to speak to his trusted Turian friend. The door automatically opened as he approached it and –as expected- Garrus was tampering with the gun, focused as ever.

"Hey, Garrus" Shepard said as he entered.

The blue armor clad Turian turned his attention away from the battery to greet Shepard. "Shepard" he said, with a curt nod. "What happened? One minute I'm in here doing calibrations and the next, I'm down on the floor passed out" he said, crossing his arms.

Shepard looked about the room. Everything seemed to be alright. The last thing they needed was a giant, malfunctioning gun. Leave it to Garrus to make sure everything weapon-related is working in tip top condition. "We're not entirely sure, but we seem to have passed through a tear in space" he said bluntly.

"A tear in space?" Garrus said, his 'eyebrows' lifting up, probably to show surprise.

Shepard gave a short laugh to himself at the thought. "It's what EDI says it was, and she's not usually wrong" he said

EDI's hologram immediately popped up on the panel nearby. "I am never wrong" she corrected before disappearing. Shepard and Garrus smirked at the words of the pompous A.I.

"There's also a huge ship outside. Haven't seen anything like it before" Shepard remarked.

"Whose is it?" Garrus said, leaning to one side.

"We can't tell. Doesn't look like anything we've seen before. Looks human, but it doesn't have Alliance or Cerberus colors" he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Pirates?" Garrus suggested with a smirk.  
Shepard laughed at his remark. "I don't think so. Way too big. I'm going to go take a better look at it over on the observation deck. You should too" he said.

"Maybe later. I've got to make sure these guns are ready in case that ship doesn't turn out to be too friendly…" Garrus said, nodding his head towards the large batteries.

"Alright, Garrus" Shepard said before making his way out of the room. The unrest seemed to have subsided a little as Shepard passed more of the crew members. The door to the observation deck hissed open as Shepard approached it. He immediately saw Samara looking out the wide window, one hand on the glass that separated them from an icy abyss. "Shepard, I am glad you came" she hummed, turning to look at Shepard.

"Hello, Samara" he said. "You must have seen what happened?" he asked her as he walked over to the window.

"Yes. There was that enormous split…And then I was thrown back" she replied, turning to the window which showed the enormous ship outside at a much better view. "I am unhurt, thankfully. Shepard, what is that vessel?" she asked, not taking her eyes off of it.

"We're not sure. It doesn't look Krogan, Turian or from any other species for that matter" Shepard told her in a low voice, looking at the intimidating ship.

"It looks as if it was built by humans…However it does not bear the Alliance colors. Cerberus, perhaps?" she said.

"Doesn't look like it… Besides, we've been trying to contact them for a while now. EDI says that their communications array is damaged" he told her, lowering his head to see if he could see the underside of the vessel.

"That is most troubling… However, Shepard…" she said, turning to him. "This strange vessel… It disturbs me"

Shepard turned to her with a quizzical expression "What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I am not sure. There is just something… wrong, about it" she stated, turning her head to look at it.

Shepard remained silent for a while before he spoke. "I'm going to go see Joker about what we have to do next. I'll see you later, Samara"

"Goodbye, Shepard" she said as he left the room.

Shepard took the elevator back to the Combat Information Center and made his way down to the cockpit. He found that Miranda was already there. "What do you make of all this, Miranda?" he said as he approached them.

Miranda turned around to face him with crossed arms and a troubled expression. "I don't like it. _A rip in space_?" she asked him in disbelief. "Now we don't even know we are, in the same space as a ship we've never even seen before whose communications are down. I don't like this at all" she said, turning to the window.

"Me neither… Joker, any luck?" Shepard asked.

"Nope… Looks like we don't have a choice other than to dock in. We can apologize later, right?" he said, turning to Shepard with a smirk.

Shepard raised his eyebrows and smirked in return "I guess we can. I wonder who's on board…" he said as Joker brought the engines to life and they began moving towards the hulking vessel.

* * *

Isaac stared around the enormous hanger in disbelief, his eyes wide in fear. "No…How can this be the…it was destroyed back on…" he mumbled. He looked around the floor and noticed the disturbingly familiar blood on the floors. He had no idea what was going on, but he fully intended to find out. The Ishimura was destroyed along with Titan Station not long ago…The last thing he remembered was that…Wait…What could he remember? Isaac slowly brought a hand to his head as realization dawned on him. He couldn't remember what happened last. All he remembered was a few days on the gunship that Ellie had rescued him on but then…nothing. He placed a hand to open the door he had come out of and walked into the all too familiar room. He looked about and gulped. The door directly ahead was locked…But he knew how to get around it. He walked into the little space behind the blood stained windows and activated the panel, restoring power to the other door nearby the panel as well. With a dry throat, he opened the door and saw nothing but a barely lit hallway. He tried to swallow, but found it hard to do so and instead opted to search for some source of light. He walked back out of the small space as the door closed behind him and searched the room. At the foot of locked locker, he spotted something familiar. He quickly reached down and picked it up and held it in his hands. It was his old plasma cutter… He pointed it at the wall and the holographic indicator showed it had twenty full rounds in it. From Isaac's experience, however, he knew he would need much, much more ammo. He looked at the locker from up to down and considered breaking it open, but knew better and instead chose to back to the windowed space, opening the door yet again. Pointing his trusty weapon so that its flashlight came on, he walked into the dark hallway.

After a few steps he heard the door close behind him and gulped slowly. He could smell the rusted metal and dried blood… He had prayed he would never have to see the Ishimura ever again… Yet here he was. As he made his way around the hallway with the little light from his cutter, he began to register what he knew; he was on the Ishimura, which he had thought to be destroyed, and he had no idea how he got here, when he got here or what happened before he got here. Isaac gave a short grim laugh just thinking about it. He found a few credits on the way and a clip for his plasma cutter, though a med pack would be nice as well... Well, at least with the credits he'd be able to buy one. At last he came to a door and opened it, quickly raising his cutter immediately after touching the panel. Fortunately, nothing lashed out at him. He looked about the large room but saw nothing that could be of use to him. He saw a body lying near a desk and his eyes fixed upon it and his heart began to beat faster.

Suddenly, a distant clang rang out. Isaac quickly turned around, but there was nothing. Was he hallucinating again? What if he wasn't even on the Ishimura…He shook his heads to clear his mind and moved towards the door. It opened as he touched the panel and he walked into the dark hallway. The flickering lights over head briefly showed him the writing on the walls as he passed by them… 'Know god, no fear. No god, know fear' … 'I don't want to die' and that strange language, littered across the wall in what was without a doubt blood… Isaac's nerves were on edge the entire time. He entered one of the bathrooms and flinched slightly at the sight of lone arms scattered on the floor. He looked at the blood covered mirror but could only see his unnerved self looking back at him.

He placed his cutter on the sink counter and turned on the tap and brought some water to his face, sighing slightly as he did so. As the water dripped off his face he stared into the eyes of his reflection, all the time wondering how this had happened. He thought he heard static from his communicator when suddenly an eerie figure spurred to life behind him. It had the blood soaked face of a woman he once loved, its eyes and wide mouth emitting blue static.

Isaac's eyes widened as he stared into the mirror, and the figure it reflected stared back at him

"Here we are again, Isaac…Isn't it funny how some how you always end up here? Constantly reliving my nightmare…" It hissed at him as the static grew stronger. Isaac's mouth slowly began to open as he kept staring into her cold, static filled eye sockets. "This nightmare…Where the only person who cared about me… SENT ME TO DIE!" it shrieked at him before it disappeared in a blur of orange.

"Ungh!" Isaac grunted, gripping his throbbing head. He quickly used his free hand and grabbed the sink to stop himself from falling. As his eyes fluttered open he began breathing rapidly as he tried to calm himself. "She's not real…She's just in your head…She's dead…I…" He mumbled quickly to himself, desperate to reinforce his sanity. He grabbed the sink with both hands and stared at its drainage hole, still breathing quickly. He slowly looked back up at the mirror, but only saw himself. He shut his eyes and breathed out in relief.

He opened them but saw that in the mirror that this time…He was not alone. He whipped around as a disfigured creature lunged at him with a feral growl. He quickly reached up with both hands and held back its scythe-tipped arms as it howled rabidly at him with its dislocated, bloody mouth, attempting to bite at him. Isaac gritted his teeth and head butted it with all his might, causing it to stagger back a bit with a growl.

Immediately he grabbed his plasma cutter from the sink counter and with one hand fired a shot that took its head right off. Knowing far too well what to do next, he quickly aimed the cutter at its arm, switching it to vertical aiming in the process and fired, severing that limb as well. It hesitated –probably in pain- for a bit, but slowly took one step forward. Isaac yelled out as he swung his cutter with all his might and crushed its remaining arm joint as it fell to the floor with a squish. Headless and armless, the creature fell to its knees and collapsed onto its side. Isaac stared at it, breathing rapidly. With a loud grunt he brought his foot down on its leg joint, crushing it and sending it across the room. Feeling the adrenaline drain out of him, Isaac slowed his breathing down and kicked the mangled body lightly, making sure that it was dead. After no response, he sighed in relief.

He glared angrily at its remains and quickly picked up its head, anger coursing through his veins. He went inside one of the stalls and dropped it inside the toilet and pressed down hard on the flush button. It got stuck half way but after the sounds of sickening cracks, it went down without resistance. Filled with satisfaction, Isaac turned around and made his way out of the bathroom and into the dim hallway. He heard a howl in the distance and realized that they now knew of his presence. He activated a command in his RIG as the helmet pieces rose out of it and began assembling around his face, the blue glow within it helping to light up the hallway. He held up his plasma cutter and slowly began walking forward, knowing that highly unwanted surprises were now hunting him down.


	3. Chapter 3

First of all I would just like to start off by saying how deeply apologetic I am for making you guys wait so long! Imagine my shock when I saw that my humble little fanfic's followers jumped to 7+! I attempted to make it up to you guys by putting in a lot more content than before so I do hope you can forgive me! Thank you to all those who are still following this and i'm very sorry that I let you down to those who stopped following this but I want to make it very clear that under no circumstance am I stopping this (unless there's legal reasons lol). There's also an ending note at the end of this chapter so do give that a quick read if you want :)  
Disclaimer (because getting sued is bad): I do not own any part of these games. The Dead Space, Crysis and Mass Effect series are owned by Visceral Games, CryTek GmbH, BioWare and EA respectively.

And now, without further a due...

* * *

Chapter 3

Alcatraz wondered down the corridor, his rifle pointed ahead to light the way with its flashlight. Something was bothering him though…He had begun to smell something strange a while back and it seemed to grow stronger the further he went. It smelled strange…Yet like something he knew. Eventually, he found himself in front of yet another door. The luminescent panel above it read 'BRIDGE'. The crew and captain of this strange ship would be here… Perhaps now he could get some answers. Opening the door, he entered but what he found was far from what he expected.

He immediately brought a hand to his mask as a putrid smell invaded his nostrils, through even the suit's filters. Immediately, Alcatraz recognized the horrible smell… It smelled just like the disgusting substance that the Ceph melted dead humans into. The enormous bridge was completely empty, save for a few large containers scattered about. Dried blood coated the metallic floor and asteroids floated ominously outside the massive window. Alcatraz surveyed the room from his position but froze when he saw an arm and leg near one of the containers. He took a few seconds to register what he had just seen before snapping the riffle back up, his heart beginning to beat faster. He slowly began walking ahead, around one of the large containers. Why were they on the bridge, in the first place? Furthermore, where was the crew? As he walked, he noticed the wide variety of computers and consoles on either side…He had never seen technology like this, besides the Ceph of course. He made his way to one of the large consoles and stared at it, top to bottom. There was no visible keyboard but the screen was displaying what must be a blue print of the ship. Even on the screen, the ship's outlines looked massive. It seemed that there were many sections to the ship…Although for some reason, the Engineering Deck, Medical Deck and Bridge sections were blinking red. He turned around and began making his way to another console.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of something dropping far away and a high pitched howl followed after it. He turned around immediately, point his rifle at the door he entered from. The flashlight revealed nothing but the door. Another high pitched shriek rang out, this one sounding much closer. He turned around yet again, his heart racing. What was that? What was going on?

"Nanovision Engaged" the voice within the suit spoke as his vision became thermal.

He scanned the environment slowly as more strange sounds emerged. They sounded like some sort of demented animal… The nanovision picked up nothing except for the heat signatures of the body parts and bits of the dry blood. He switched the Nanovision off.

He heard quick, heavy thumping on the floor and aimed the rifle to his side and just barely saw a shadow dart behind one of the containers. He slowly took a step back, his rifle locked on the corner of the container. He took one more step back but then stopped when he saw a head peeping from the corner of the container. It had a massive, flat head and looked utterly disfigured and its tiny, glowing yellow eyes were staring hungrily at him. Alcataraz was so shocked at the sight that he forgot to pull the trigger and the head gave off a wild, shrill cry and darted out of its cover and began charging towards Alcatraz, literally head first. Alcatraz did not hesitate this time and pulled the trigger, unleashing a flurry of bullet towards its head. Much to his surprise, the bullets seemed to practically bounce off its head as it rushed towards him, screaming.

Its head caught Alcatraz in the stomach and immediately he felt the air leave his lungs as he was thrown back along the deck. He had fired ten rounds straight into its head! How could it have survived? He wheezed some emergency air into himself before hastily picking up the rifle and aiming from between his knees, still on his back. He fired yet another burst of shots at it, these ones hitting it in the shoulder. The arm separated from the joint and dropped with a clutter next to the creature it as it howled in pain and blood began to spray from where its arm used to be. It quickly retreated to its hiding place behind the container. Alcatraz quickly used his elbows to drag himself backwards and got back to his feet, feeling a burning pain in his stomach.

He pointed the rifle at the corner as he heard it moaning. Then, without warning, it darted out of its cover in the same manner with a low, ferocious growl. Alcatraz quickly aimed at its thigh…or something that looked like it. If he couldn't kill it, he could at least disable it. He fired yet another burst of bullets, this time hitting its leg as it came forward. The limb gave off a sickening crack and the creature flew forward with the sudden loss of its leg. Alcatraz backed away from it quickly as it lay motionless on the floor, giving off a fading moan and oozing blood from where its arm and leg used to be. It looked truly disgusting; it did not seem to even have skin…it was just pure flesh. Its remaining arm was tipped with three long, razor sharp looking claws. Its feet were thin and looked very fragile indeed. It's head however looked very hardly and bulky. Alcatraz fired five more shots into its body to ensure that it was dead. After it did not move, Alcatraz cautiously walked up to it and bent down. He dabbed his index and middle fingers in its blood and looked at it. Immediately, the suit began running scans on it, different patterns and sequences appearing within his visor.

"Scanning: Foreign liquid substance. 15% complete" it said in its raspy tone as the figures faded from his visor.

Alcatraz stood up and began looking around the bridge. It was in utter silence now…An eerie, unwelcome silence. He made sure to scan the room once again using his Nanovision. Yet again, to no avail.

"Analysis complete. 50% human DNA, 20% canine DNA, 10% bovine DNA, 20% Unknown. No matches found for final percentage. Substance unknown." the suit told Alcatraz.

Unknown? No matches found? That would mean that this thing was not even a Cephalopod. He turned down to it, surveying it grimly. A combination of human, dog, cow and unknown DNA… What on good green earth was this thing? How was it created? Alcatraz knew he had found himself in a place where he should most definitely not be. He no longer wanted answers…He wanted to leave. Reloading his rifle and dropping the empty clip beside the creature's mangled body, he began to walk towards the stairs ahead that but yet another cry echoed around the room. Alcatraz spun around, his rifle at the ready.

"Maximum Armour" said his suit's voice as his suit began pulsing blue.

He activated nanovision and quickly looked about. He saw two large heat sources dart past each other in the darkness. Alcatraz deactivated nanovision to conserve energy and took a few steps back, his footsteps now much louder due to maximum armour. His eyes were darting from left to right, hoping to spot them the minute they moved but this was proving difficult on the darkened bridge.

The shrill cry –now much closer- rang out yet again and one of the strange creatures leapt out from behind a small container and charged rapidly towards Alcatraz. Alcatraz quickly fired a round at its legs but it missed by inches and though he fired again, the creature seemed to be… dodging it. Soon, its head collided into his stomach yet again. Alcatraz was pushed back a few inches but it was the creature that recoiled in pain; maximum armour had served him well. Alcatraz wasted no time and slammed his gun into the side of the creature's disfigured face, stunning it momentarily. He quickly aimed at its right leg and fired a burst of shots into it, causing it to give out beneath the creature.

He heard another shriek as the first creature collapsed onto the ground and without wasting any time, Alcatraz delivered a forceful kick to its face, knocking it over onto its back. He brought his enforced boot down onto where its neck would be –for at the moment it was split open completely- and repeatedly stomped on it until its head separated from its body in a series of bloodcurdling cracks. He knew it was not over yet, as he turned to see the second creature which had already began charging.

"Maximum Strength" announced the voice in his suit as he felt his muscles flex stronger than usual.

He slammed his fist into the front of the creature's charging head. He immediately felt how unbelievably tough it was but it was no match for the combined force of maximum armour and strength. The force of Alcatraz's punch shocked it back and Alcatraz proceeded to immediately grab it by its head, the enhanced strength making his grip iron-like. He lifted it up with ease as the creature clawed away wildly at his arm and kicked away at his stomach.

"Warning: Energy levels falling" his suit alerted him. He needed to be quick about this.

Alcatraz dropped his gun and pulled out his knife from its holster and cut into the front of the creature's open neck as it began attempting to free itself even more frantically. Using the last bits of his energy, Alcatraz used maximum strength to help him cut through the tough, open neck. Its body dropped to the floor in a bloody heap, and its lone severed head still in Alcatraz's grip.

Suddenly, in an act that shocked Alcatraz to his very core, the body that had just crumpled at his feet lunged at his ankles, and yanked at them, causing Alcatraz to fall and let go of its formerly attached head.

"Warning: Energy levels depleted" his suit announced as his suit made a small noise and ended his maximum armour and strength.

As shocked as Alcatraz was, he kicked in resistance at the headless body and pushed it away. Quickly grabbing his gun from beside him, he fired the rifle continuously at it, emptying the clip entirely. He scrambled to his feet and backed away from the thing, breathing heavily. Impossible… had it just attacked him…without a head? After waiting for a while, after which it did not respond, Alcatraz stepped back and almost collapsed. Was this some kind of cheap horror movie?!

He stared at the three bodies that now lay around the bridge, silently wondering what sort of beyond-logic creatures they were. Suddenly, he remembered the stairs and he turned to them, still feeling a bit weak in the knees. He walked towards them, taking a look over his shoulder before he did so. He placed a hand on the railing as he began walking down. There were stairs that lead further below, to a door with a blinking panel that read "CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS". He placed his hand on the hologram that popped up and it opened before him.

Just as he walked past the doors, there was a violent shaking below his feet and a deafening roar sounded off above him. He stumbled a bit and quickly looked to the ceiling, his heart beginning to beat at a mile per minute again.

What now?

* * *

Shepard pulled his helmet on, and twisted it into place. It gave off a small hiss to ensure that oxygen has filled it. He chose to wear his basic N7 armour, favoring it ever since he destroyed the collector base while using it. Perhaps it was superstition, but it hadn't failed him yet.

"We're all docked in Commander. We're ready to go anytime you are" Joker's voice said over the intercom.

"Alright, I'll be right up" Shepard replied.

He attached his Vindicator Battle Rifle to his shoulder and his pistol to his side. He didn't want to take too many weapons aboard; it might alarm the people inside. He grabbed a few dozen clips of ammo and walked out his door and into the elevator. It took him up to the Combat Information Center and he stepped out. He noticed that everyone seemed to have calmed down a bit from before, which was good considering the situation…Shepard had already chosen his team with the members being Grunt, Garrus, Thane and himself. He saw them gathered near the docking door.

"Alright everyone, we're just going in to find out where we are and who this is. There shouldn't be any reason for gun slinging, seeing as they didn't fire at us when we approached" Shepard told them.

"Not that they couldn't have. Those were some pretty huge guns" Garrus remarked.

"Hmph. Why am I going if there isn't going to be anything to kill?" Grunt grumbled.

"Now now, you should know how these things tend to go with Shepard's smooth talking" Garrus replied.

Shepard gave him a quizzical look and turned to Thane. "How're you feeling, Thane?" he asked the Drell.

"I am alright. Should we not hurry? Perhaps I am mistaken but being lost in space is something to worry about" he told Shepard.

"Hm…" Shepard said simply. "Stay frosty, Joker. Seal everything if there's any sign of trouble" he told Joker.

"Sure thing, Commander" Joker replied, turning back to the consoles.

The airlock cycled once and then opened up, revealing a dim corridor ahead.

"Electricity must be on the fritz…" Shepard mumbled as they set off into it.

As they walked through the empty hallway, their footsteps echoing off the walls, Shepard wondered why they hadn't met anyone yet. Surely they had noticed that the Normandy had docked already?

"It's quiet…too quiet" Grunt said suddenly.

"Isn't that a bit cliché?" Garrus asked, turning to the large Krogan.

"Huh?" Grunt replied, looking at him from the corner of his eye.

"Nothing" Garrus said with a chuckle.

"He is correct, however. It is not usually this silent on board a ship of this size. Where do you suppose everyone is?" Thane asked.

"Maybe this just isn't a frequently visited part of the ship" Shepard said, idly.

"Hey…Is it just me or do you hear something in these vents?" Garrus said quietly.

Everyone stopped and listened silently, but could hear nothing.

"You're hearing things, Garrus" Shepard said, looking at him over his shoulder. The continued onward until they came to a door. A hologram popped up before them and Shepard held his hand to it. The door slid open, revealing a large room with a massive machine at the end. The machine looked like some sort of a transportation device and was attached to a line on the ceiling of a colossal tunnel. Next to them was a small windowed room with rows of seats.

"Now what's this…?" Garrus murmured, surveying the large piece of machinery.

"It looks like…a tram, I think? Only, without the wheels" Shepard replied.

"Shepard" Thane said, suddenly.

Shepard looked to Thane who seemed to be looking past his shoulder. He turned around and saw that Thane was looking into the small room. "What's w—" he began, but he soon saw the issue: at first glance the seats looked to be red… but with parts of its originally grey color showing, it was now apparent that they were dyed in what looked like dried blood.

"Is that…?" Garrus asked quietly.

"It is… There's no mistaking that smell" Grunt said in a low voice.

This much blood… How could there be this much? There's enough blood for one…no, two humans. "Eyes sharp; whatever did this has got to be somewhere inside" Shepard said before he briskly turned around. They all nodded in response, taking out their weapons.

Suddenly, a shrill cry echoed in the distance. Immediately, they assumed combat positions, pointing their guns at all corners.

"Where did that come from?" Shepard asked quickly.

"I do not see anything" Thane voiced quietly.

"Me neither" Garrus replied.

"Hmph… I don't like this…" Grunt complained.

That factor seemed to worry Sheppard the most. Even inside the collector base, Grunt was ready for action but here… even he seemed to be nervous and that was saying something. "Alright, let's get into this thing. It's got to be safer than being out here in the open" Shepard announced.  
Slowly and careful they made their way inside, with Grunt and Garrus guarding the two entrances from the inside.

"How do you work this thing…" Shepard mumbled as a foreign holographic keyboard appeared before him. The shrill scream sounded off again.

"Shepard? You mind hurrying up?" Garrus said quickly.

"I'm trying!" Shepard told him.

Thane crouched next to Garrus and began aiming at the door they came out of. All he needed to do was wait for it to open…

Just then, there was a loud rattling above them followed by feral growls, causing them all to look up. Thane quickly shifted his aim to the vent above them.

"Shepard!" Grunt yelled to him.

"I got it!" Shepard yelled back, quickly tapping a key on the holographic keyboard. The glass doors of the tram slowly slid shut. However, the tram did not move. "What? It should be—" he began but he was cut short by a close by scream. He turned to Garrus just in time to see some strange miniscule creature slam into the door just inches away from him.

"What in—" he began but the thing gave off another shriek and suddenly three long tendrils broke through the door and wrapped themselves around Garrus' neck. He dropped his gun quickly and attempted to pry the tendrils off him, all the while with the creature screaming outside. "Son…of a…!" he grunted.

"Move!" Shepard shouted, stepping to Garrus's side as Thane jumped back. He lifted his rifle and fired straight into what looked like the creature's head. He heard the sounds of the bullets digging into it as its head fell backwards spraying blood on the door, its tendrils slipping back out of the holes.

Garrus stumbled backwards and quickly reached for his pistol. "What the hell…was that?!" he asked, still catching his breath.

Suddenly, the now headless creature slammed itself back into the door, thumping away at it wildly with its stubby arms, causing Shepard to step back in surprise.

"Whatever it is it's not dead yet!" Grunt shouted as he stepped in front of the door and lifted his shotgun to the creature's body. "Say goodbye, scum!" he growled at it before firing an entire round into its tiny body.

The creature flew backwards from the force of Grunt's shotgun as it tore an even larger hole in the door. They stayed in silence for a moment, with only the sound of Garrus quickly catching his breath. Once he had done so, he reached down and picked up his rifle.

"That creature… It was able to climb onto the door without a head" Thane stated grimly, turning to Shepard.

"Usually when you lose a head, you die…" Grunt muttered.

"It looked like a…" Thane trailed off. Shepard knew what he was going to say.

"I know…" Shepard replied quietly.

They heard the sounds of something breaking and immediately brought their guns up. Garrus quickly backed away from the door and they remained completely silent. Soon, sounds of strange growls and snarls began to emerge around them. There was a loud clang above them, followed by a loud growl. Garrus immediately directed his rifle to the roof as something began smashing away at it, causing the tram to shudder with each hit.

"Oh my god…" Shepard whispered as he saw a figure approaching the tram windows.

Coming towards them, with disoriented and slow footsteps was some sort of large disfigured creature with massive thighs and a large yellow sac on its chest. It inhaled and exhaled loudly as it approached in a sort of limp.

Grunt did not waste time staring at the thing and immediately fired his shotgun through the hole in the window. "If it can walk, it can die!" he yelled.

The bullets collided with the monstrosity but only seemed to stop it for a second, as it resumed its slow march towards Shepard and his comrades.

"I will handle this" Thane said calmly, carefully looking through his scope which was centered far too easily on the creatures' head. He fired a single shot and it hit the creature in no time.

This time, however, the creature seemed to react as it gave off a sort of shout of pain once the bullet collided with its head. It seemed to be angry now as it began stomping faster towards them.

Meanwhile, the force on the roof of the tram slammed away at the roof. Two long scythe-like objects tore through the roof and split open a hole. Through the hole, a creature dropped into the tram, not far ahead from Garrus. It was very tall even though it was bending its knees and hunching. Its jaw was unhinged on one part and its face had no remains of skin; just pure flesh. Long scythe like arms emerged from its back, with its regular, human-reminiscent arms positioned awkwardly. Garrus wasted no time in firing his rifle as bullets tore away at the creatures' body. He specialized in sniper rifles, but was not too bad with an assault rifle himself.

The creature seemed to hesitate for a moment but shocked Garrus when it began walking towards him. He fired yet another round into its body but yet again this did nothing but stop it momentarily. He aimed for its head and unleashed yet another flurry of bullets. The entire round caught it in the head, causing it to howl in pain very briefly before it severed entirely.

Despite the fact that blood was now spewing from where its head used to be, the creature remained on its feet and instead began to swing wildly while walking forwards. Shepard had just barely managed to avoid one of its claws. "Damn it! Just die!" he said through gritted teeth as he brought his rifle up. He fired a short burst but due to the creatures' wild swinging, the bullets caught one of its claws and caused it to come off with a crack. The creature halted and shivered, Shepard thought that if it still had its head it would be howling in pain again. Something suddenly occurred to him and he decided to try it out. "Garrus! Aim for its claw arms!" he shouted to his comrade.

Garrus and Shepard fired rounds into each of its scythed arms, the force of all the bullets hitting them causing them to snap off and hit the wall behind the creature. Its bones were shockingly weak, despite having been able to tear a hole through solid steel. The creature froze for a second and shivered before collapsing forwards, oozing blood from its back. Shepard and Garrus had little time to celebrate their victory however, as Grunt shouted out a warning.

"Incoming!" he yelled.

Before they could react, strange yellow liquid came pouring through the hole in the window and splashed down on the fallen creatures' body. Before their eyes, its fleshy body began melting away under the hissing yellow substance.

There was a loud crack as Thane fired his rifle once more, the shot hitting the creature in its head but this time causing it to fall off behind it.

"That won't work!" Shepard called out to him. "Aim for its limbs!"

Thane heeded the new information and shifted his aim to one of the creatures' large thighs. He switched on the incendiary ammo function on his rifle and fired. The shot hit the creature square in its thigh as it stumbled a little. The fire from the shot quickly spread along its leg causing it to stomp wildly in a futile attempt to put it out. He fired once more, this time the bullet went straight through as the added fire caused the leg to tear off from where the first bullet entered.

The creature lost balance for a moment and fell onto its back and lay motionless. Just as they finally thought it was over, it threw itself onto its front and rapidly began clawing its way towards them. After a few 'hand steps' there was a strange gurgling noise and suddenly yellow liquid bust forth from its head-hole.

Garrus quickly yanked at Thane's collar and pulled him back as the liquid landed in the exact spot he was in, hissing as it began to slowly corrode the metallic floor. Suddenly, there was a loud familiar battle cry as they heard the sound of glass shattering.

Grunt stomped forward and quickly brought down his foot onto the creatures' body. He continued to stomp around it until he finally stomped its arm off and soon he began to fire his shotgun repeatedly at it.

"Grunt! That's enough; it's dead!" Shepard called out to him.

Grunt turned to look at Shepard, his Krogan nostrils flared in rage. "Right" he grunted, giving the mangled body one last kick then walked back to them, reloading his shotgun as he did so.

"Thank you, Garrus" Thane said gratefully, turning to him.

"Don't mention it" Garrus replied idly, reloading and checking his rifle for damage. He then looked to the corroded creature then to the one outside and finally to Shepard. "Shepard… Where exactly are we?" Garrus asked him as he rubbed his throat, still feeling the force from the first attack.

"We took off their heads. Any species would drop lifeless when that happens" Grunt growled, leaning against a wall and crossing his arms.

"They fought on even though we had removed their limbs. What sort of monsters are these…?" Thane said as he reloaded his sniper rifle.

The tram jerked slightly and they all brought their guns up again, but the tram jerked once more and began slowly moving. They lowered their guns as Garrus and Shepard fell into one of the seats inside the tram. Shepard looked up and saw on the map of the massive ship that they were going to another deck. "I don't know … I haven't got any idea what those things were or why they didn't die but right now, it looks like we're going to the Medical Deck. Maybe we can get some answers there"

* * *

Isaac walked down yet another corridor as a punctured cable sparked off nearby him. He made passing glances at each vent and dark corner as he passed by them. After a while, he came to a door. The glowing panel above the door read 'To Tram Room'. Isaac placed his palm on the panel and the door slid open into yet another hallway that split left and right. He stepped past the door and looked to his left and saw that the hallway had 'caved in' on itself. He remembered seeing this the last time he was here as well. He stepped to his right and began walking down the corridor as the light above him fluttered on and off. He came to yet another door and opened it, stepping inside the tram room. He walked up to the wide glass and looked through it, onto the empty platform on the other side.

"Seems like it was just yesterday Kendra and Hammond were arguing over there…" Isaac said to himself. He looked down at the tram panel and saw that it said the tram was (obviously) not docked in, but that it was at another part of the ship. He entered in a command that would call the tram but it gave him a message saying "Error: Control Data Card missing. Please insert the Control Data Card and try again". Isaac frowned at the panel. "So the tram's not here, but I can't call it? But if it was somewhere else already why would the data card be…Hmm…" he said to himself.

Isaac turned around and made his way to the door at the end of the room and walked through it. He glanced to his right, where the tram replacement room was. "If it's not broken then I don't need to replace it…" he muttered and took the path to his left. He came to an elevator that led to the Maintenance Bay. He stepped inside and placed his palm on the activation hologram and the elevator began humming as it began to descend. Isaac dreaded the elevators… He always had the feeling that something would jump at him either in the elevator or once it had reached its destination.

As the elevator jerked to a halt, Isaac quickly brought his cutter up. The doors opened and the three thin beams faded out into the dark distance. He slowly stepped out of the elevator, not lowering his cutter. He took a few more steps and when nothing leapt out at it him, he lowered his cutter, exhaling in relief. He looked up at the massive room and instantly noticed something very strange.

"The tram's not here…" Isaac muttered. He could still remember; when he had come through here the first time there was a massive broken tram hanging practically off its hinges. That means that this would be the Ishimura from after that period… yet it didn't have any of the sanitary objects that were present when he boarded the Ishimura on Titan Station. What was going on…?

He stared around the massive room as silence floated within the air, save for the sound of electricity sparking off some broken device or ruptured cable. He took a right and went further down the walkway. He noticed an explosive container next to a dead body and made a mental note of its location; just in case he ever got in to a… tight situation.

Suddenly, he heard sounds of something scraping against metal and low growls. He quickly turned to his left and saw a necromorph attempting to pull itself up onto the walkway, both of its massive scythe-like claws already over the railing. He quickly pointed his cutter at one of the claws and fired, severing it and causing the creature to shout out in pain. He aimed at the other claw and fired once more, severing it as well and causing the disgusting creature to drop into the darkness below. Almost immediately, several high pitched screams echoed around the room and Isaac felt a cold sweat creep over him. He backed up against the rough wall behind and brought his cutter up, his eyes darting in all directions. He could hear high pitched growling now. If he didn't find one of them soon… "C'mon you little bastards… Where are—" Isaac began, but his words were cut short when he felt something sharp dig into both of his shoulders.

Isaac let out a yell and jerked himself free of the claw-like grip and stumbled forwards. He turned around, his cutter at the ready, and saw a small grey necromorph shriek at him as it tore at the vent cover he was leaning against with its tiny yet extremely sharp fingers. Without hesitation, he switched his plasma cutter to its horizontal mode and fired, severing its head. That didn't stop it of course, as it recovered almost immediately and lunged at the vent cover, removing it. Isaac quickly shot one of its feet as it got up, effectively putting it down for good.

He turned around quickly and saw many more of the small necromorphs tumbling towards him, each of them screeching wildly.

"Damn it!" Isaac said through gritted teeth as he fired at two of them. He fired a bolt of stasis at them, slowing them down in their rabid march. He quickly grabbed the explosive container behind him using his kinesis and launched it at the horde. It exploded and scattered their body parts and limbs all around. The explosion pushed Isaac back but he managed to stop himself from falling back. Just as Isaac thought it was over, one of the small necromorphs leapt up from beneath the body parts and landed on Isaac's chest. It scratched away furiously at his helmet but Isaac quickly grabbed it by its neck and slammed his plasma cutter into its face, decapitating it. With a grunt, he tossed its body over the side of the walkway to join the bodies of its kind. Isaac remained where he was, attempting to slow down his breathing.

He opened his RIG menu. It showed him that his health was now yellow… and he had no med-packs. Just great. Isaac shook his head and continued to walk down the now blood and limb covered hallway, kicking aside the stray parts. He came to the end of the walkway and looked through the room that showed the inside of the small room.

"There it is" he said, spotting the data board lying on top of a bloodied desk, the arm of a deceased crew member lying near it. He also spotted a BENCH in the room but the problem was that he had no nodes. Even if he did, he had already upgraded his plasma cutter to the maximum. "Wait…come to think of it…" he murmured, the realization dawning on him that his plasma cutter was no longer igniting enemies. He lifted it up and examined it, not seeing any of the signs of modification he had made to it. This unnerved him.

Putting the thought to a side for the moment he stepped through the door and picked up the data board, sparing a sympathetic glance towards the severed arm. He searched the room for a power node but to no avail.

Just as he stepped out of the room a necromorph pounced at him and grabbed him, attempting to cut away at him. Grunting loudly, Isaac attempted to fight off the necromorph, barely dodging a few of its strikes but got hit by some of them. Feeling his health deteriorate Isaac swung his cutter in desperation and slammed the things head off, disorienting it. Taking advantage of the moment of hesitation he quickly backed away and lifted his cutter, panting heavily. He switched it to vertical fire and fired two shots at one of its arms, severing it. He pointed it at its leg –switching the plasma cutter to horizontal aiming in the process – and fired two more shots, severing it and causing the abomination to collapse in a pool of blood.

As it lay motionless, Isaac limped backwards and leaned against a wall, breathing heavily. He felt sharp pains all over his body and felt his arm bleeding. He walked up to the necromorph's body and stomped down upon it with a grunt, shattering its remaining arm. Out of its arm hole he spotted a blood covered but glowing green object. Hastily dropping to his knees, Isaac pulled the large object out and saw that he had uncovered a medium med-pack. He quickly placed it against his arm and injected it, feeling a cooling sensation fill his body. He activated his RIG and now saw he had blue-green health. He sighed in relief as the pain began to die down.

He stood up and reloaded his plasma cutter and saw that he only had 7 spare clips remaining. He would need to conserve ammo a bit more. He walked back down the path and to the elevator. He rode it to the top and cautiously made his way back to the tram room. Taking off the access panel, he installed the data board and placed the panel back. He activated it as a pleasant hum filled the room.

"Tram hail initiated. Please make your way back to the tram station to board the tram" said the A.I in the room.

As Isaac made his way back he suddenly heard a high pitched howl from afar. He recognized it as the cry of the necromorph that ever so loved to ram him constantly. It sounded far away but he wondered why he heard it –a narrow hallway wasn't a place where they appeared. It wasn't their 'habitat'. Nevertheless, he remained cautious as he continued on to the tram station. It seemed that the tram hadn't arrived yet, but he heard it coming. After making sure to search the area (and finding a small med-pack in the process) he carefully walked to the edge of the platform and peeked down the massive tunnel, spotting the familiar redness of the tram approaching. He relaxed; it was somehow always safe in the tram. He took a few steps back and waited for it to halt in front of him.

How surprised he was when it came to him containing four _live _people, looking just as surprised as him.

* * *

Quite action packed, no? Try to see if you can notice the action pattern between the three :P. I was rather worried about whether or not I should use the official names for the necromorph (like the Lurkers, Slashers and Stalkers, etc.) so I would very much appreciate it if some of you would tell me if I should or shouldn't use the names :) Also, some of you Dead Space veterans may have noticed that there were quite a few inconsistencies with the necromorph such as Lurkers' heads coming off and a Pack necromorph surviving a dismembering shot. The simple explanation for this is that I have enhanced the strength of the necromorph. Do not worry, this will be explained in story later on ;) On a final note, was there a bit too much action here? I had a slight feeling that might be the case but at the same time I felt there wasn't enough action before. As always, feedback, comments, suggestions and criticisms are all welcome! Look forward to the next one guys! (Hopefully it wont take as long as this lol)


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